


Martin's Abuse

by Jetti



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Domestic Violence, F/M, Victim Blaming
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-05-26
Packaged: 2020-03-19 23:22:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18980437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jetti/pseuds/Jetti
Summary: Martin is the victim of domestic abuse by his girlfriend.





	Martin's Abuse

Martin looked at himself in the bathroom mirror. It wasn’t that bad, really. It was never that bad. Karin had had a terrible day. Things were getting stressful at her office and she didn’t need Martin adding to it at home. 

First, he was late from a delivery job in Ashington. He had promised Karin that he would be home before she got back from work so he could cook them dinner, but he miscalculated because of the traffic and the customer being a bit of a chatterbox. When Martin had walked in, his girlfriend was sitting there at the dining room table, one leg crossed over the other, arms folded tightly against her chest, and a stern look upon her face. As usual, he began babbling, trying to explain why he was late and dinner wasn’t ready, but she gave him that look that meant he needed to shut up and do the task he had neglected due to his incompetence. 

He ran to the kitchen and started the preparations for their meal, doing his best to get everything exactly as Karin preferred. The fact that Martin was exhausted from just returning that morning from his flight from Ibadan and having to go directly into Icarus Removals mode led to his second mistake, forgetting to add in basil to the sauce. Once he set the table and served Karin and then himself, he thought he was in the clear, but that wasn’t the case. One taste and Karin knew. She called him pathetic and useless in a clipped, tired voice. She sighed and gave Martin a disappointed look. 

The third mistake he made, which set her off, was that he had left his clothes on the floor, one of her pet peeves. He knew this rule, but in the rush to get out the door so he could return on time, he must have missed the clothes hamper in their shared bedroom. She held up his clothes, treating his pilot uniform as evidence of his crime. Her voice was calm, speaking to Martin like one would a child, asking if he understood what he had done wrong. He looked at his feet, answering “yes” and “I’m sorry,” to her. Suddenly, she was yelling, whipping his dirty pilot’s uniform in his face before throwing it to the ground. She advanced on Martin, face turning red and eyes flashing in uncontrollable anger. She gripped him around the neck and threw him to the floor much like she had his uniform. Martin’s head impacted hard against the surface, but he didn’t have time to rub the pain away because Karin would be throwing things soon. She picked up whatever was around her, which happened to be the alarm clock, lamp, and ashtray. Martin had done his best to block these objects, deflecting them with his arms, but the ashtray got away from him and clocked him in the nose. Karin, seeing that she did not have anything left within her reach, jumped on top of Martin, straddling his middle, and began hitting him in the chest. She called him stupid, a waste of space, and that the world would be a better place if he no longer existed. After some time had passed, she stopped and left the room. Martin laid there for a while, collecting himself. His nose was bleeding and he really needed to make it stop before any more got on the pale blue carpet. 

So here Martin was, cleaning himself up in the bathroom. His nose was done running like a faucet, but the area was still tender and red. He examined the newly formed bruises on the back of his forearms and chest that would surely be much more vivid the following morning. He felt the back of his head and winced. After a shower, he would put an icepack on it so the swelling would go down.

These injuries were minor, no big deal, really. Karin shouldn’t have to put up with Martin’s annoyances. She was the one that asked Martin out, and after months of dating, invited him to move in. Martin was elated with the news. Karin was the perfect woman; intelligent, beautiful, interesting, and Martin still could not see how someone so fantastic would go for someone like him, but he was grateful. He had never been in such a serious relationship before and he wanted it to work. The first time Karin had been upset with him was after he put an empty milk carton back in the refrigerator. Martin had been frightened out of his mind, but Karin apologized and assured him that everything was okay. Her outbursts in reaction to Martin’s mistakes did not come often but had recently increased to about a couple times a week due to Karin’s work-related stress.


End file.
